On Wednesday 6 March 2024, the UK Government announced that the Household Support Fund would be extended for a further six months from 1 April.
The Government is providing Lincolnshire with a further £5.5m for the fifth round of the programme, which will run until 30 September 2024.
As with earlier rounds of the Household Support Fund, Lincolnshire County Council has worked with district councils to decide how this additional funding is most effectively targeted to the Lincolnshire residents most in need, in line with government guidance.
Around 64% of the funding will be provided to schools and early years providers for children eligible for benefits-related free school meals, early years pupil premium and families with a 2-year-old eligible for early years entitlement.
1% of the funding will be used to provide financial support to eligible care leavers in supported living accommodation.
Those eligible for these two grants will be contacted directly and will not have to apply for this support.
Approximately 34% of the funding will be made available to Lincolnshire’s district councils to provide support to vulnerable households via local schemes. District councils (or third sector/voluntary organisations operating on their behalf) will provide an application-based process to ensure the funding is distributed in line with the grant conditions across local areas.
Scheme details are being finalised and applications are not being accepted at this time. Further details will be published shortly.
We appreciate that not all households will be eligible for support via this grant programme. However, the government have a number of arrangements in place, and this is just one.
Residents facing financial difficulties can also visit the government’s Cost of Living Hub and Help for Households.
In addition, there is a Holiday Food and Activity programme for children eligible for benefits-related free school meals.
If you are finding it difficult to manage, please remember Citizens Advice offer free, confidential and impartial advice to everyone to find a way forward whatever problem you may face. So please call their national advice line 0800 144 8848.
A range of support can also be found via Connect to Support Lincolnshire.
Privacy information
District councils
District councils use personal data already held about households in receipt of housing benefit only, to determine eligibility.
For application-based processes, details about why and how personal data is used, are provided to householders at the time of application, as appropriate.
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC)
For the Early Years element of the funding and associated entitlements, information is provided to LCC via parents’ declarations, for the purpose of checking eligibility. For free school meal eligible (FSM) children, LCC have used information from parental FSM applications.
LCC uses information already held about care leavers, to determine eligibility.
Information is processed by LCC in order to perform tasks carried out in the public interest and in the exercise of official authority. We use the minimum amount of personal data required to meet HSF objectives.
We are required to retain your information for as long as is necessary, after which it will be securely destroyed. Retention schedules are in place that set out in detail how long information will be held for.
You have several rights in relation to the information that the council holds about you. For more information about how LCC handle personal data, your rights, when they might apply and how to make a request to exercise them, please see our customer privacy notice.
